


Official

by Mozzarella



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Modern Era, Relationship Reveal, Secret Relationship, Social Media, Ugly Holiday Sweaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28084173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mozzarella/pseuds/Mozzarella
Summary: In which Dorian Pavus makes a choice, and posts a photo.(and the author never mentions Instagram, even if it's definitely Instagram)
Relationships: Iron Bull/Dorian Pavus
Comments: 18
Kudos: 69





	Official

**Author's Note:**

> A quick holiday fluff piece I whipped up in about 30 minutes! 
> 
> Happy Holidays, Adoribulls. I love you.

When Dorian woke up to a cold Fereldan winter morning with a warm, heavy arm wrapped around his waist and his own personal space heater pressed up all along his back, his mind was buzzing. 

He’d made it up weeks ago, when he sat across from Bull with his comically tiny monocle (where he even got a monocle in modern Thedas was a mystery for the ages) on while he was signing some contracts for jobs Krem had set up for the next financial year, enormous, strong, calloused hands delicately scribbling down notes and revisions. 

For the longest time, Dorian had been on tenterhooks about making any sort of post on social media indicating he had a partner. The longest time being two years, though the first year they were still pretending that their arrangement was more casual, even when they agreed being “roommates” would help save money, knowing they were comfortable inhabiting each other’s space. 

Bull had respected that fully, making sure to show Dorian every selfie and photo he was posting to his own socials. It was those small, thoughtful gestures that Bull took entirely seriously that made Dorian fall inexorably in love with him more and more as time went on. 

By the end of the first year, during their first shared holiday, Dorian had felt so deeply in love that he couldn’t stop himself, fully past drunk after their holiday party with friends, from climbing into Bull’s lap, kissing him deeply (not so unusual), and whispering how much he adored him, calling him Amatus out loud for the first time. 

Dorian had known Bull as a friend for five years by now, slow to warm to him in part due to his own racist ideas about Qunari and in part due to his careful tiptoeing, trying very hard  _ not  _ to show that ignorance off and anger the man. Still, Bull was quick to point out his missteps, yet always much kinder and more easygoing than Dorian deserved. 

Slowly but surely, they learned of each other, became close friends. Dorian had a warm and loving, but ultimately doomed relationship with their mutual friend Max Trevelyan, who moved on just a little too quickly to the universally adored Josephine Montilyet. He might have felt bitter if it had been anyone other than Josephine, but the Antivan woman was one Dorian was more inclined to side with and defend than even Max himself, with whom he still had an unbreakable bond of true friendship. 

And anyway, if he hadn’t broken up with Max when he did, maybe he wouldn’t have realised how much he valued Bull’s friendship. The man read people so thoroughly, and though Dorian was a master of hiding his emotions behind a great show of jokes and smiles and a pomposity most people rarely saw through, Bull knew how much the breakup had hurt him. 

He offered rebound sex as casually as any friend would offer a beer, but when Dorian rejected the notion, he more freely offered a shoulder to cry on, which Dorian took after a few weeks of lonely day drinking that had him utterly sloshed by 6pm. 

He’d been against falling in love with Bull for the longest time. Even when Max remained a dear friend, even when the breakup itself had ultimately been cordial, Dorian feared losing Bull’s friendship more than he’d perhaps ever feared losing Max’s love.

It was when Bull began calling him Kadan, wrongfully assuming Dorian had no way of knowing what it meant (though it was a fair assumption - had Dorian not known someone that had the benefit of being someone’s Kadan), that Dorian decided he couldn’t fear what came next, when Bull had given his love so freely, for a man so guarded. 

And now, two years into their relationship (though one year of acknowledging it  _ was  _ a relationship), Dorian was receiving strangely stilted holiday greetings from his family and friends in Ventus, and a not so subtle set of likes and comments on his racier photos from a married ex. 

He’d always been careful about what he allowed into the world. He’d always valued his privacy, regardless of how public he was about his own looks, his achievements, enough that he had quite a huge following on social media - over 1.2 million loving him for his good looks, his fashion sense, and even more surprising, the bits of knowledge he dropped from his university days in easy to digest short videos that apparently helped many a college student through their more difficult magical theory courses. 

Many had asked him if he had a partner, and he’d always been coy in his responses, if he responded at all. The only ones from home who knew the truth were Felix and Mae, the latter only through Felix “caving” out of guilt and admitting to Mae that Dorian was living with someone, but fortunately divulging no more than that. 

But now… 

Now, with Bull planning an utterly awful ugly sweater competition with him and his Chargers, and convincing Dorian to take part in a disgustingly twee photoshoot for Christmas cards he was sending out to their closest friends, it felt… wrong. 

Wrong for Dorian not to tell the world about this wonderful, loving, intelligent man with whom he shared a life and home. Wrong for Dorian to hide him away, no matter how considerate or understanding he was about his situation. He was safe, and had been for years now, from the repercussions he feared back when he’d first moved. His permanent residency in Fereldan had been approved years ago, and he was well on the way to becoming a citizen, and it certainly wouldn’t be threatened by the revelation he was living with a Qunari ex-spy political asylum-immigrated partner (something the government - specifically their terrifying friend Leliana, already knew).

Months ago, Bull had let Dorian scroll through his phone when he was cleaning them both up from a particularly athletic bout (or three) of delicious lovemaking, and Dorian found a folder entitled Kadan, wherein lay hundreds upon hundreds of photos of Dorian - Dorian in the kitchen making a traditional Tevinter lunch, Dorian poring over notes sent to him by his old mentor Alexius to help him with his magical theory program, Dorian rolling his eyes at something Bull said or did, and even a few of Dorian sleeping, hair and mustache mussed, while sunlight peeked through the window and shone on his face just so. 

And Bull, whose own chaotically delightful Chargers-centric socials was full of surprisingly artistic photos of his friends, even a few of Dorian when they were all grouped up, had posted none of these. Even if it was clear (to Dorian, if nobody else), he was proud of his beautiful boyfriend in every aspect of life, even in the somewhat shamefully unguarded moments that nobody else got to see.

So Dorian made a decision, slipping back under the covers while Bull slept on, even though when Dorian came back, Bull’s arms immediately welcomed him by wrapping him back into the warmth protecting him from this chilly winter morning. 

And he raised his phone up, tilting his face to align with Bull’s own (but enough to hide his scarred eye from view), taking a selfie as he pressed the gentlest kiss to the side of Bull’s mouth. 

* * *

The photo blew up (later, when Dorian asked Bull’s permission to post it and Bull very casually said okay, even though he seemed to shake with excitement and his one eye seemed suspiciously wet when he said it), captioned “Happy Holidays to my Amatus - I wouldn’t trade these years for anything” and blowing up with congratulations and “FINALLY”s from his dear friends, and well wishes from a majority of people that Dorian didn’t fully expect. 

And only a week later, Dorian (eyes rolling so hard he got a headache) gave Bull permission to post their terrible, mostly ironic ugly sweater Christmas Card to his own socials, unable to stop smiling at the Dorian in the photo who couldn’t hide the love in his eyes for the man he adored most. 

  
  



End file.
